This invention is directed to a composite article including a hollow body having a decorative metal plate attached thereto. Although my invention is suitable for the manufacture of almost any composite article, for clarity of illustration, it will be described as it is applied to a push button having a decorative metal finger contacting plate and to the manner of making the push button by attaching a decorative metal plate to a hollow plastic body. When applied to a push button or similar item, it is particularly concerned with attaching a small decorative metal plate to a hollow plastic body in order to manufacture a small push button for a tape recorder, radio, stereo unit and the like. Conventionally, decorative metal plates have been attached to plastic bodies by adhesives to form push buttons. However, the assembly of such an item has been difficult because of the small size of the metal plates. Also, handling the plate with the adhesive thereon was not convenient. Further, even when the decorative plate was properly assembled to the plastic body, it has frequently fallen off during use because of failure of the adhesive.
An object of this invention is a method of making a metal plate and attaching it to a hollow body to make a composite article.
Another object of this invention is a method of making a decorative metal end plate which can be attached to a plastic body to form a push button of the type which can be used for a radio, a tape recorder, a stereo unit and like items.
Another object of this invention is a method of attaching a decorative metal plate to a plastic body without using an adhesive.
Another object of this invention is to manufacture a decorative metal end plate which can be attached to a plastic body by crimping.
Another object of this invention is a method of manufacturing a decorative metal end plate having integral tabs for attachment of the plate to a plastic body.
Other objects may be found in the following specification, claims and drawings.